Steelers happy with LaMarr Woodley’s conditioning

Posted by Josh Alper on July 29, 2013, 2:00 PM EDT

AP

Early in the offseason, Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodleycame under criticism from members of the organization for not being in good enough shape during the last couple of seasons, with the added implication that his lack of diligence in the offseason led to injuries that kept Woodley from helping the defense.

The anonymous slams of Woodley led to an angry response from other Steelers players about keeping criticisms in house rather than airing them in the media. It looks like we’ll avoid another round of the same during training camp.

Steelers linebacker coach Keith Butler said that Woodley is “where we need to have him” and that the linebacker “looks good.” Butler also said that he tried to impress on Woodley the importance of being in the best shape possible.

“We talked about it,” Butler said, via Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “You think about the logistics of the NFL: A team is paying you $7-8 million dollars and they aren’t paying you to watch from the sidelines. I am a coach and they don’t pay me $7-8 million to stand on the sidelines and that’s what he’s been doing. If you are not on the field, you can’t earn your money. They might pay for one year, but they aren’t going to pay for the next year. That is the matter-of-fact of the NFL.”

With James Harrison gone, the Steelers are trying to figure out if Jason Worilds or rookie Jarvis Jones will be starting across from Woodley. Whichever player is there, the pressure will be on Woodley to put up the kind of production he had in 2008-2010 when he averaged almost 12 sacks a season off the edge for the Steelers. Being in top condition is a big part of that puzzle, so it’s so far so good for Woodley.

This is the guy who swore Flacco and the Ravens would never win a Superbowl, so you can take everything he says and throw it in the trash. The guy is washed up. All he’s doing is creating a toxic locker room. 4 measly sacks last year. Ha!

crownofthehelmet says:Jul 29, 2013 2:15 PM

An overweight Woodley still will have no problems motoring around the jelly-factory that is the Ravens O-Line.

bobzilla1001 says:Jul 29, 2013 2:23 PM

Welcome to Pittsburgh, where the only player “allowed” to be out of shape season after season is the $100 million quarterback.

Steeler's Didn't-but-Will-eventually says:Jul 29, 2013 2:25 PM

This tub better be in shape or I might eat his halftime pizza and hotdogs.

I hate to say it, but it appears my Steelers might be in for a down year.

Not a lot of sacks coming from this defense…

Woodie + Troy + Ziggy + Haywood only had 9 sacks last year and we lost our best sacker in Harrison.

smh…

Come on Colbert, stop whiffing in the draft!

Stiller43 says:Jul 29, 2013 3:05 PM

“Woodie + Troy + Ziggy + Haywood only had 9 sacks last year and we lost our best sacker in Harrison.”

Did you really put troy in the conversation about sacks? He has what, 10 career sacks?

Woodley was hurt much of the year, ziggy and heyward* are 3-4 DE’s (rushing the QB isnt their primary responsibility), plus heyward is mostly a backup…

I would agree with you that they need more pressure…but to throw those 4 players out there as “oh look, these pple didnt get many sacks” is ridiculous.

stainlessstill says:Jul 29, 2013 3:05 PM

I hate to say it, but it appears my Steelers might be in for a down year.

Not a lot of sacks coming from this defense…

Woodie + Troy + Ziggy + Haywood only had 9 sacks last year and we lost our best sacker in Harrison.

smh…

Come on Colbert, stop whiffing in the draft!

———

SMH that you’re a Steelers fan. You say this group you mentioned only had 9 sacks but fail to take into consideration that 2/4 of those players mentioned missed significant playing time due to injury, let alone Heyward (with an “E”) being primarily a backup last season. Again, SMH.

This is the guy who swore Flacco and the Ravens would never win a Superbowl, so you can take everything he says and throw it in the trash. The guy is washed up. All he’s doing is creating a toxic locker room. 4 measly sacks last year. Ha!

I bet you are basing this post on the countless hours spent in the steeler locker room….oh wait no that is not where you got it from. You got it from the shallow end of the troll gene pool. Come on dude keep your fantasies to ourself.

Joemontanaflacco says:Jul 29, 2013 4:59 PM

I think the writer meant to say the Steelers are happy with Woodley’s AIR conditioning. Instead of working out, they’ve been riding around in the new car he bought with all that wasted salary cap cash.

rockinrodie says:Jul 29, 2013 5:25 PM

It was Woodley’s conditioning that rendered him ineffective, especially in the 4th quarter of games last season. Big money boy realized that was unacceptable and worked hard this off season. I expect that to translate to a big year. And with Jones hungry for action, and an experienced Worlids there as well, the outside backers look strong. I believe it was Lebeau that stated, “it doesn’t matter what kind of cover guys you have when the QB is running for his life.” And you know when he’s playing lights out, LWood is as dominant a pass rusher there is. And anybody who says otherwise can shove it…..Pit’s Lb corps is tops in football, just like it usually is.

Was at training camp today (first day in pads) and Woodley looked fine but the real story was Jarvis Jones. He was absolutely everywhere. A monster in backs on backers, swatting balls and would be sacks on 11-on-11. Couldn’t have been more happy with Jarvis today.

Steelers will be much better than people are hoping for this year. A ton of young talent that will soon be realized.